International news from Monday, October 19th, 2026

Ukraine received no advance warning from its partners of a Russian ballistic missile strike overnight, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, after Moscow launched one of its broadest air assaults in months, cutting power to more than half a million households.

Helicopters rescued people stranded on their rooftops as torrential rains swept across eastern Spain on Monday, causing floods that have killed at least two people and prompted authorities to issue shelter-in-place orders for more than 800,000 residents.

The UN World Food Programme has said funding shortages are forcing major cuts to its aid programme in Gaza, leaving about 500,000 people without monthly food support in a territory where two-thirds of the population struggle to get enough to eat.

A bomb threat forced an Austrian Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to Vienna to divert to Sofia late on Sunday, though a search found nothing dangerous so the plane took off again and flew onwards, the airline and Bulgaria's BTA news agency said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a summit next month with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to negotiate an end to the four-year-old Ukraine conflict that would favour Moscow, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

French authorities set curfews in parts of several cities on Monday, including Paris, Lille and Nice, as they faced pressure over security failings after a weekend of riots and looting stemming from nationwide anti-government protests.

Air India and Air India Express have extended their flight cancellations to and from Saudi Arabia until October 24.

Hurricane Trudy has weakened slightly off Mexico’s Pacific coast and is expected to lose strength rapidly as it moves away from the mainland, forecasters say.